United’s new Polaris arrived a week before we did: sixty-four suites on a 787-9, doors and Starlink still waiting on the FAA, and a captain flying the last of his forty-two years. Seventeen hours, San Francisco to Singapore.

Another MLK long weekend, another flight to Asia. Two years on, I'm back on STARLUX — and this is the fourth "Flight 1" I've taken. With nearly 300k Alaska miles burning a hole, the soon-to-expire award seats were easy to grab. JX1 went out barely half full; First seemed to sell a single seat.